From Fan to Player – DeNoble and Maguire Proud to be Petes

Tyler Renaud
Journalism Intern

Nothing beats putting on your socks and pulling a hockey jersey over your head, unless it’s the jersey of the team you grew up idolizing as a boy. That dream was realized for Josh Maguire and Logan DeNoble of the Peterborough Petes. The pair were dedicated fans growing up and consistently watched the fabled maroon and white.

DeNoble is a notable rookie this year and was the first Peterborough-born kid to suit up for his hometown team in his rookie season since Derek Holden in 2007.  He says he has been a Petes fan his whole life and caught a game at least once a month as boy.

Maguire grew up less than an hour from Peterborough in Cobourg, but was as diehard a fan as anyone.

“I used to be a season ticket holder when they won the championship in ’06 and when I was younger I used to dream about having my named called for that starting lineup,” Maguire said.

When it came time to be drafted Maguire hoped he wouldn’t have to go too far from home and the Petes helped him stay with his family.

“Yeah it was important to [be close to home], especially coming into the league as a younger guy at 16 made that adjustment period a little easier,” Maguire said.  “Also, I was lucky enough that my Dad actually lived in town since before I can remember as he used to be a police officer in town.”

As for DeNoble, he loved the Petes, but being drafted was his number one priority.

“Luckily, for me it was Peterborough who drafted me,” DeNoble said. “It has been nice that it has worked out that I can live at home and still play, but going into the draft my goal was to get drafted whether it was by Peterborough or another team.”

Maguire and DeNoble grew up watching the Petes win and are relishing the opportunity to try and create more memories for fans.

“Seeing teams win here first hand as a fan adds some incentive to work hard to be that much better and be a good team,” Maguire said.

DeNoble echoed these thoughts.

“When I was growing up there were a lot of championship teams I got to hear about and even watch. Now to come in and try and re-create what those teams did is a really cool experience,” DeNoble said.

DeNoble is carrying on more traditions than just the winning ways of the maroon and white – he is part of a lineage of Petes. He is a third generation Pete and fourth in is his family to don the Petes’ colours. His grandfather Ron Chittick (1966-68), great uncle Perry Chittick (1967-68) and uncle Jeff DeNoble (1986-87) all had their time carving up Memorial Centre ice.

 

“It’s a real honour to know that my grandpa and my uncles played for the team and to be sitting in the same room that they once sat in is a really cool feeling,” he said.  “I just know that I’m kind of carrying on the tradition so to speak.”

Maguire may not have been born in Peterborough or be following in the footsteps of former Petes, but he is doing everything he can to improve this community and surrounding areas.

“My family and I run a charity called the Brian Rowe sports fund which is in memory of my grandfather that passed away in my rookie season. My Papa and I were very close, we were best friends, we did everything together. Something he always dreamed of doing was start a charity or fund for kids that couldn’t afford to play sports locally. So, we started running a golf tournament and now it’s an annual event. All the money goes to kids who can’t afford to play sports – whether it’s a goalie school (my grandfather was a goalie for the Oshawa Generals and Windsor Spitfires), we’ve supported some local baseball and hockey teams. This year I gave a cheque to the Kawartha Komets which is a special needs team in town.  We are just trying to help kids who sometimes aren’t as fortunate as some people and it goes unnoticed,” Maguire said.

It’s amazing how the Hockey World can come full circle, and who knows, maybe the next stars of the Peterborough Petes were watching Maguire and DeNoble this season.

Tyler Renaud

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